Man is charged in police shooting of bystanders, though he carried no weapon

A man who apparently threw himself in front of oncoming cars in New York’s Time Square has been charged in the wounding of two bystanders who were accidentally shot by police during the Sept. 14 incident.

The man who was charged, 35-year-old Glenn Broadnax of Brooklyn, did not have a weapon, the New York Times reports. The indictment unveiled on Thursday accuses Broadnax of assault on the theory that he “recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death.”

Two officers began shooting because they feared Broadnax was reaching for a gun when he put his hands in his pocket, according to the police account. He was disabled by a police Taser.

Broadnax’s lawyer, Rigodis Appling, told the Times his client was disoriented, depressed and anxious when police shot him. For his part, Broadnax told police after his arrest that he was “talking to dead relatives in his head” and was trying to kill himself.